Q. When did Vivian Fantasy begin? Tell us about the history...
Q1. Vivian Fantasy is actually a relatively new project.(started 2017) it’s not even a year old yet at the time of this interview. So, there isn’t to much history to talk about. But, basically Vivian Fantasy is the result of me trying to start a more focused project. The first incarnation of Vivian Fantasy was a Project called “chemists”. Before I would kind of make albums like I would mix cds. So I would try and switch up the genre, the instruments, singing style the lo fi/ glossy recordings, the mix as much as possible. In college I wanted my albums to sound like mix tapes that sounded like a bunch of different artists but is really just one person. When I started Vivian Fantasy I wanted to break away from that. Not that I don’t wanna add variety in my music anymore because I love doing that. But, after a few years of experimenting I wanted to have a more distinct sound. Something a bit more focused/cohesive.

Q: Who are your influences?
Q2. To list a few I’d have to say Boards of Canada, Azeda Booth, Suzanne Ciani, Miles Davis, Grouper, Stereolab and Bibio are the big ones. I tend get inspired by films a lot as well

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Q3. My 5 Favorite albums of all time (In no particular order)
1. Azeda Booth- In Flesh Tones
2,Candy Claws-Hidden Lands
3. Flying Lotus- Los Angeles
4.Bibio- Vignetting the Compost
5.Nas-Illmatic
The list can go on and on but these are the ones I can always come back to and enjoy just as much as I used to.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Q4. Playing live can feel very exciting and exhilarating or very grueling and anxious it really depends on the area/setting you’re playing in. I tend to get anxious before performing a new track just because there’s a lot of studio stuff going on in my music that’s hard to translate well to a live setting especially as a solo artist.

Q. How do you describe Vivian Fantasy sounds?
Q5. To this day it still makes me a little uncomfortable when someone asks what type of music I make because it’s a bit all over the place. Maybe psych pop with elements of dream pop, folk, shoegaze, electronic and ambient music. Or just simply experimental music.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Q6. I really have no set process for recording. I use a mix of reel to reel tape recorders and computer to record so it varies depending on what I start recording with first. Sometimes I’ll start writing as I record loops could be guitar, synth, drums, bass, textures....etc Then build from there. Once the track is near complete I listen for brief moments to fill in the blanks with sounds. Usually adding subtle things that only happen once. Other times I’ll have a track already fleshed out before I record. But, that doesn’t happen very often.
Also, since I make a lot of ambient tracks at home just for fun. Most of the time I have no intention of releasing them musically (most are never used). Every so often I’ll go through them. Sometimes I’ll find one that I feel sets of atmosphere for something else like a beat or vocals that I didn’t consider/hear previously. Once that happens I don’t really need to add too much more because the groundwork as already been set for that track. I always tend to finish recording those tracks the fastest.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Q7. Oh man so many good ones. Sound Of Ceres, Worse Curses, Doce Alma, Heja Rames, Zooanzoo also my labelmates Lushloss, Shelf Nunny, Cock and Swan and Ocean Hope.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Q8. I’ve never really been too big on doing covers. But, I think a Grouper cover would be really fun.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Q9. To keep releasing music. I wanna release a full length by summer 2018. Hope fully a visual album sometime soon as well. Maybe get more people to play with live.

Q: Any parting words?
Q10. Thank you for asking me to do this <3 br="">***Thanks